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Meanwhile, hopes have dimmed for Haitians combing the countryside for missing relatives in the Caribbean nation’s hardest-hit zone, the remote and long-ignored southwestern tip.

The central government says the official toll stands at 546 dead and 128 missing, but many believe the figures could be higher and some rugged areas still have not been fully assessed.

While relief can often be slow and chaotic in disasters all around the world, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest and least developed country is perennially beset by natural catastrophes and particularly ill-equipped to handle them.

In crucial first days, assistance is often too little and too late, stalled by impassable roads, collapsed bridges and a lack of resources and infrastructure.

Communications were wiped out by Matthew in large parts of the southwest, with no emergency backup.